Learning New Languages

Right now I am engaged in thinking about technology and literacy instruction, while at the same time continuing to perform my regular work. My regular work has recently necessisted that I learn how to use a database more effectively, and use a web creation software more effectively. I love the challenge of new problems and have been happily engaged in problem solving.

As for learning a relational database I had some basic knowledge of using filemaker, and tried to work on my own to learn Access, the software that I have as part of my work. It's been interesting and finally after a few hours of going nowhere, enlisted the help of a willing colleauge. In an hour she was able to walk though and problem solve with me in such a great manner - I could feel the new ways of thinking sinking in, and was ready to continue to play. This manner of learning (try, get help from an expert, play more, and then perform - it's cyclic) is my preference for learning and has reminded me of how I like to learn.

Learning to use Dreamweaver on the other hand I have gone to reading a manual and using online tutorials (with book support) to begin to learn these new skills. However I also have some experts waiting in the wings to help with the learning process here.

Regardless of the application I have been struck in both cases that both feel like I must learn new languages to make things work, and not only do I need to be able to program or output these languages, but I have to train my brain to think about issues in a different manner than I had previously. Although these might not be revolutionary insights, they do make me realize that learning for me needs to have social and practice applications, and needs to allow me to think internally in new ways and express this in new formats.

I wonder then about students in school transacting with new softwares and how much is shapes both their output of content and knowledge, and the internal wiring of thinking. "Hypertext and Hypermedia have signifigantly changed how we can read in digital environments and how we create paths to search for that information" (schmidt & Gurbo, 2008, p. 68). I couldn't agree more and think about this video The Machine is Us/Using Us. It is such a great video that really makes me think about how new mediums create new patterns of thinking in students (in anyone really). However understand the relationship between new media and brain/thinking patterns seems like a challenging problem to say the least. How do we begin to understand this dynamic realtionship between the form and the user and how each impacts the other (okay it feels weird to talk about impact between a human form and a non-human thing, but I do believe it is not just a one way relationship.

Measuring, describing and understand the ways we interact with computers and the shifts we make in thinking and practice is such an exciting topic.